The body
by Kasimere
Summary: AU to the ending of the Dark world, because let's just give Loki one honest moment. And Thor a time to mourn, eh? Short fic with some major sadness issues and oh, character death. Actual death. Give it go, it's short, and you may be able to tolerate it.


**Hey, so, the ending to Thor 2 was utter bollox. In fact, I have so many grievances with the movie I don't understand why I paid even £10 for the DVD, or paid to see the movie in the cinema repeatedly. The whispers about the director's cut/wants were 100000 times better. So I run with that canon in my head. Here's an AU that strays more so from the actual accepted canon. Enjoy or whatever!**

"Are you- are you sure you don't want me to, ah, like, go with you? I mean…" Jane's sentence fell short, she bit her lip and looked away to concentrate more heavily on her shoes. The cracks in the stone between her feet became exceedingly more interesting when they were a removal from current events.

Thor did not face her, instead he stared over across the balconies wall onto the cityscape, London was grey and saturated with the smell of rain. It dulled the buildings and dripped off the metal giants that cut into the dying sun blotted sky. Clouds splattered over the blazing eye outside the atmosphere and created a cold blockade from any warmth it may have radiated. In laymen's terms it was well and truly miserable, exactly like the demigod that maybe not intentionally caused it. The incident in Greenwich was still a very fresh memory, but Thor had subsequently recovered from any but all physical damaged that he sustained. But now it felt like nothing had been repaired, the craters in the pavements of the city where nothing compared to the gashes and holes that seemed to glisten inside the blue of the Asgardian's eyes. The reflections of hits to Thor's heart that would forever remain in disrepair, his brother was dead.

"No, Jane." He eventually replied the sentence was thick and laden with some underline anger that was not directed at the mortal woman who bore a worried gaze into his back. "… But, I thank you for the offer." He turned, slowly; the sky began to break open with another haze of barely felt moisture. "But this is something, I wish to do alone." Eventually the eyes of both parties trailed up to meet, the brown usually quizzical eyes of Jane were fogged with sympathy not for the dead, but for the one left behind. The one stood in front of her with a stare that met hers with unusual trepidation.

Loki was dead.

Loki was alone.

The brother of the man that stood before her lay in black dust, isolated from everything living.

_Was he afraid?_

_Did he feel the cold?_

"I understand, um, I…" The mortal woman shifted on the spot, holding herself in an attempt to loon nonchalant. "I'll" She stammered again, only to solidly and deliberately cease her petty movements. "I'll be here."

_It was virtually all she could do._

Svartalfheim was the same, dead black and crushing. It could have been the sand or the situation which made it harder to intake air, but Thor could not put his finger on which was the true perpetrator. There were emotions inside him, but they felt blanketed, as if his being strained to feel nothing at all. Not even the ground beneath his boots. Thor silently retraced his steps; a map clearly marked out in his mind reflected his previous actions. Ghosting images of the aged events flickered across his vision.

"_I'm sorry- I'm sorry"_

"_It's alright… hush now, brother, all is well-"_

"_-Thor."_

_Thor held Loki tighter than he would've during a night of ridiculous childhood horror, his little brother shook tremendously in his hold. And it hurt both of them._

_A body, grey and cold, it could not hear the screaming._

"_Thor, I'm sorry, but we have to go."_

"_No, my, Loki."_

"_Brother, I can't- I can't leave him out here."_

_The body was too light, too limp, and too fictional to comprehend as Thor cradled it to his chest, unable to look at its face. _

_The cave was cold, grey, and scary. _

_Was Loki still scared of the dark?_

_The cave was solid, strong, hidden. The cave would have to do._

_Thor removed his cape, and draped it across the body as it lay upon the dusty floor. The red fabric engulfed the vessel and so there was enough material to place under its head also. Stone would too uncomfortable. _

The cave remained unchanged, and Thor's shadow was most likely the first thing to cover the bare amount of light that crawled in through the opening. He couldn't breathe, his throat was heavy and clogged, his body frozen and his mind unresponsive. But this was something he needed to do; placing Mjolnir on his belt he slowly slipped inside ignored the writhing screams of agony inside his own skull.

The body.

_Loki._

Loki's frame remained where it had been placed; it seemed to be in the same condition as it was left in.

_He. His. _

Thor slowly, lowered himself onto his knees the closer he got. Bringing a shaking hand to push the cape down fully from his brother's face, it was grey, emotionless.

Peaceful.

Sleeping.

Gone.

Stifling a whimper too young to exit such an aged gods mouth, Thor graced the cold cheek of his brother with one calloused hand. Closing his eyes, he felt the fog over his emotions clear, the dawn of the flood crept into his chest and broke free quicker than he could predict. He lurched over his brother's body, one hand in his hair, and head on his chest.

Thor wept, for the longest time. And Loki remained the same.

Thor held his little brother, draped in red. And exited the cave slowly, holding Loki close to shelter him from all his fears. To shelter him from the cold and the monsters of the dark world, in a world where Thor failed his task to protect his beloved sibling (failed to love him enough) he could at least do this right.

He could at least bring Loki home.

The light of Asgard pierced the dark of Svartalfheim. And like ghosts to the land the brothers dissipated into nothing, leaving behind a flurry of up heaved dust.

**Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. It's 2am and I've lost control of my life. **


End file.
